


Substitute for Horses

by vamm_goda



Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: Fluff, Horse Racing, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-19
Updated: 2013-03-19
Packaged: 2017-12-05 20:14:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,803
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/727466
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vamm_goda/pseuds/vamm_goda
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ryan and Gabe reflect on the nature of horses.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Substitute for Horses

**Author's Note:**

> For the dear Silver Spotted

||

"So, they were right about where I'd find you."

Gabe resists a chuckle at the way Ryan startles, watching the little shiver that leaps up his spine at the sudden break in the silence. Gabe then gives up fighting it when Ryan turns around with the most god-awful adorable, ruffled little look on his face. He's slowly turning red.

" _Gabe_ ," he hisses, eyebrows drawn together. "What are you doing?"

Gabe decides to ignore the question for the moment, focusing on the elephant in the room instead. "Hi, Sweetheart." He bobs his head, always the gentleman, and offers his hand to the beautiful chestnut he's just caught Ryan with.

She noses into his hand, lips gently at the palm for a moment before she discovers he doesn't have anything more interesting than his own fingers to offer her and goes back to pushing her head into Ryan's hand, asking him to pay attention to her. 

Ryan resumes scratching at her ears after a few seconds when it becomes clear Gabe doesn't have any plans except to shove his hands into his pockets and look like the very picture of innocence. All that's missing is him rocking back on his heels and whistling nonchalantly.

They're quiet for a while, nothing but the sounds of horses swirling around them. After a while Ryan goes back to focusing on his filly, seemingly zoning Gabe's quiet presence out of his mind. Gabe doesn't care; he settles in on a bench next to the stall door and stretches his legs out, back against the polished wooden wall. Sometimes he kicks at the little pieces of straw littered across the floor. It might be hay, actually. He's never really paid that much attention to the differences between the two, seeing as how he's never needed to know. 

"Your brother told me you'd be here," Gabe offers after another few minutes of Ryan steadfastly ignoring him. "He said you'd spent a lot of time here."

"It's quiet." That sounds like it'll be the end of it, and Gabe settles in for another wait. He's prepared to give Ryan five minutes, and if he doesn't start communicating at that point Gabe'll employ his backup plan, which consists of rambling about the stupid things he's caught Dutchy doing this season until he snaps and starts talking.

Ryan surprises him by continuing his thoughts after just two. "The horses are chill. They pretty much just let me come in, and if I have carrots or some apples they're happy to see me."

"No sugar cubes?" It's one of the few things he thinks he knows about horses.

"I can't let her get _fat_." Ryan's look of terror is ridiculously amusing. "She's a thoroughbred."

Gabe blinks at him a couple times.

"That's a type of horse," Ryan explains after a few seconds. "Like 'poodle'. They're race horses."

"Peter's big into harness racing, back home." Gabe's not really sure why he's offering that information. Probably so Ryan will stop looking at him like he's rather slow, to prove he knows something. "He took me to meet his stallion this summer, after I was drafted. I think Mr. Sherman asked him to hang out with me as a favor, or something. Anyway, he took me to Slovalla, and I got to watch some people exercising him. They use a little cart called a sulky, or something. Please blink or nod, you're freaking me out."

Ryan finally gets around to blinking, ducking his head as a little red flush spreads up his neck onto his cheeks. "Sorry. I've never heard you ramble before."

"I've never had a friend staring at me like I'm crazy before. Let's call it even." He gets up, starts towards Ryan and his filly only to see her spook a little, eyes darting to him so quick they show white, and neck arching up as she pulls away from Ryan to watch him. Gabe backs away immediately; some part of him badly wants her approval.

"She can be high strung," Ryan admits, stroking over her neck as Gabe freezes. A suddenly moving horse is kinda scary in close quarters. "It's just . . . no offense, it's just what they're like."

"None taken." He keeps his eyes on her, but not meeting her gaze as he offers her his hand again. This time she sniffs at him carefully before recognizing the smell. The anxiety eases out of her a little at a time, and before long she's back to nosing at Ryan, weirdly flexible lips searching at his pockets.

He pulls something out of his hoodie, tosses it to Gabe. "Here. She'll really like you if you give her this."

Gabe catches on reflex, picks a couple pieces of grey lint off the apple half and then offers it to the filly. She doesn't even pause to smell it, just plucks it out of his hand with a strange delicacy and then begins chewing it with loud, crunching sounds. He strokes at her neck as she eats, and before long she's nosing at his jeans, hoping against hope she'll find something else delicious in there.

"You have a carrot in your pants, or just glad to see her?"

Objectively it's a terrible joke. It's also the only real off-color comment he's ever heard Ryan make, even if it is dated and dumb. There's something extremely charming about it. He sputters out a thick laugh while Ryan looks quietly smug, turning back to stroking her neck and murmuring to her. When Gabe catches his breath Ryan is still smirking at him, and he punches at his shoulder.

The filly startles again at the motion, and Gabe rubs at her nose to apologize for spooking her. "She's skittish."

"It's called spirited," Ryan corrects, shoulder against Gabe's and not pulling away. "They have high spirits. It means they're always aware, always ready to go. It's a competitive thing."

"Exactly. _Skittish_."

He shrugs. "If you want to call it that, I guess."

"Adam says you've been spending a lot of time here."

That's the root of it, and Ryan shrugs, not looking at him. "It's . . . for guys around here, owning a horse is a cool thing. Now that I have one, and she's set for racing, it's cool to spend time with her. It's like . . . Swedish guys wanting to own reindeer, or something."

Gabe snorts. " _No one_ wants to own reindeer. Unless you're Santa. Or insane."

"Well . . . whatever, then. Something you've always wanted to own and couldn't before now."

"A dog." He nods, decisive. "I always wanted a dog, but Adam's allergic. So we had cats."

Ryan looks between him and his horse, failing to see the similarity. "Okay, then. Like a dog?"

"Or like you, I guess."

It's a terrible segue way into broaching the subject of what the hell Gabe's doing here. It's a little embarrassing, actually, he'd planned on being a little less desperate when the topic finally came up. He'd hoped for suave and missed entirely, whiffing it.

"I am nothing like a horse." Ryan looks adorably offended.

"Not like some of your teammates, anyway." He cuts off Ryan's protest before he can start. "I wanted to see you, I guess. The draft happened so fast, and it feels like forever ago."

He doesn't miss the little shudder that goes through Ryan, so much like the startle had earlier. "Gabe . . ."

"I just thought . . . I don't really want to go home. It's not a long enough break for that. And the guys, on the team, they'd all be happy to adopt me, but I kinda wanted to see you. So. Here I am." Gabe shrugs, hands off to the side. Time to go for broke, regardless. "And here you are, spending all your time with horses."

"It's not like I knew you would be showing up," Ryan murmurs, looking a little ashamed. "The draft . . ."

"Was a long time ago, I know." Gabe shrugs a little. "And what goes on in the draft doesn't always carry over, but I missed you anyway."

Gabe's bigger than Ryan, and arguably more intimidating. He doesn't have the same dark intensity but they're both still young, still teenagers. The awesome part of being teenagers, he decides, is not really needing a whole lot of excuses and games when it's just easier and faster for Ryan to step into his space and kiss him, size difference be damned.

He groans into Ryan's mouth, cups his jaw and leans into him until they're in full contact, Ryan's arms twisted around his neck and holding him there. The kiss deepens pretty quickly and he opens to Ryan on a groan, tongues meeting for a moment before Ryan gets bolder and starts skimming his hands down the back of Gabe's collar. Ryan's shirt is wonderfully soft, well worn and two washes away from total disintegration, kinda like the shirt he was wearing the first time they did this, the adrenaline of hearing their names in front of all those people still coursing through their veins hours later at the hotel. Ryan's starting to rub against him in a way that feels freaking amazing, and Gabe's seconds away from sweeping his legs out from under him and dropping him to the floor.

The wet snort in his ear makes him jump, Ryan nearly biting his tongue off in shock as Gabe starts swatting at his hair and neck. Ryan's filly looks at him with a tilted head and then snorts again, wondering where the treats went.

"Son of a . . . She's saying there's a time and a place, I guess?" he offers sheepishly, watching Ryan's eyes slowly shrink to normal size before he starts laughing.

"I guess it's time to head home, anyway." Ryan wipes the tears out of his eyes once his voice is back to normal. "Oh god, your _face_."

Gabe's not bitter, he's not. Even though he was cockblocked by a horse. "Shut up. I'd like to see how _you'd_ react to a wet willie from a horse."

Ryan gives her one last pat on the neck, one less than she deserves for what she did, before reaching out and shyly taking Gabe's hand for a moment. His palm is dry and rough. 

"I know other places," he offers with an innocent little shrug. They can't hold hands for long, but it feels nice for the moments they do, before stepping out of the stall and into the activity of the stable. "I think my mom's working late tonight."

It's Gabe's turn to shiver a little, giving Ryan's hand a squeeze before letting him go. "That sounds promising. It'd be cool to see your old room."

"It's too bad, though," Ryan muses, reaching into his hoodie pocket to pull out his keys. "I think your hair would have looked really awesome with some straw in it."

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: If you got here by googling yourself, your best friend, your teammates, or your dog, I suggest you click the back button and walk away slowly. We’d all be happier that way.  
> These are lies, and I make no profit from these lies and I don’t own any of the real people featured here, because slavery is illegal.


End file.
